Your ID Price Tag

YOUR ID PRICE TAG THE COST OF A STOLEN IDENTITY AND WHAT TO DO IF IT'S BEEN COMPROMISED $$ QUITE A BITE, ACTUALLY. HOW MUCH IS YOUR ONLINE IDENTITY WORTH TO A CRIMINAL? IDENTITY THEFT VS. IDENTITY FRAUD DEFINED IDENTITY THEFT occurs after the exposure of personal information; typically The FTC estimates that someone's personal information is 9 million as many as 9 million taken by another individual without Americans have their explicit permission. identities stolen each year. IDENTITY FRAUD Total annual fraud reached $37 billion last year, down from $56 billion in 2009. is the actual misuse of information for financial gain and occurs when criminals use illegally obtained personal information to make 2009 2010 $56 purchases or withdrawals, create $37 false accounts or modify existing ones, and/or attempt to obtain BILLION services. BILLION COST TO A CONSUMER The average amount taken from each identity theft The average time to resolve identity theft fraud is The mean consumer out-of-pocket cost of victim amounts to identity fraud increased $4,841 33 HOURS 63% 2009 2010 $387 $631 ---- That's 210 hours of work That's longer than a roundtrip $631 can feed a family of based on average hourly flight from San Francisco to four for a month. earnings. London. 6 COMMON WAYS YOUR IDENTITY COULD BE STOLEN 1. Skimming information from transactions made in a store. 2. Paper mail theft. 3. Hacking computer networks and databases. 4. Used computer equipment. 5. Watching login credentials over users' shoulders. 6. Dumpster diving. Interestingly, in 43 % of identity theft cases, the victim knew the criminal. IDENTITY THEFT CHECHLIST STEPS TO TAKE IF YOUR IDENTITY IS STOLEN STEP 1 STEP 2 Unplug If you detect your identity is in the Place a fraud alert In many cases, fraud alerts can help prevent an identity thief process of being stolen, disconnect from opening additional accounts your computer from the Internet if in your name. you have any financial records on it or use it for online financial transactions. FTC STEP 3 STEP 4 File a police report File a complaint with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) A police report from the community where the identity theft took place will help you By sharing your identity theft complaint with the FTC, you will deal with creditors who need provide important information that can help law enforcement officials proof of the crime. across the nation track down identity thieves and stop them. STEP 5 STEP 6 Close the accounts that you know, or believe, have been compromised It is important to notify credit card Keep track moving forward Monitor your credit reports closely in the future, and stay alert to any unusual activity or changes to your companies and banks both over the financial account statements. phone and in writing that you have been the victim of identity theft. are detected by third parties. TIP 45 5' Take a proactive approach! Financial account protection should be a shared responsibility of financial institutions and customers: of identity frauds are discovered by consumers. SOURCES: JAVELINSTRATEGY.COM, FTC.GOV, IDENTITYGUARD.COM, IDENTITYTHEFTCHECKLIST.COM, BLS.GOV, USDA.GOV http://www.zonealarm.com/security/en-us/identity-protection-center.htm Z ZONEALARM by Check Point°